The Outback Bowl hasn't selected a team from the SEC West in 13 years, but bowl president Jim McVay said there was no better time than this year to make the change.

"We typically take teams from the East," McVay said on a teleconference this evening. "But we've had a lot of East teams and the Cotton Bowl has had a lot of West teams, and we felt like it as time to mix that up a little bit. This was a perfect opportunity. Everything about Auburn says big-time, tradition-rich and success."

Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs said the university was "proactive" about pursuing bowl opportunities, but he didn't think he did anything unusual.

"We all woke up on Sunday with a lot of 7-5 teams," Jacobs said. "We began to contact bowls to see what they needed from us to help them make a good business decision."

Auburn head coach Gene Chizik will be returning to old stomping grounds. He grew up in Clearwater and coached high schools in St. Petersburg.

"We are so jacked up about this," he said. "We can't stand it we're so excited."

What about the selection of Northwestern over Wisconsin?

"What it came down to was Northwestern and Wisconsin played a couple of weeks ago and Northwestern won," McVay said. "I think the head-to-head was the final decision. Another benefit was bringing a team to our game that has not been to the Outback Bowl before."